Despite some concerns about my daughter's condition, my mother and I went to the Sunday game of the World Baseball tournament in Anaheim. The game was a matchup between South Korea and Mexico, two nations that have large immigrant populations in Los Angeles and Southern California.The weather was unusually cold for this part of the country in March, thanks to an Arctic storm that swept through California starting Friday, bringing heavy snow to the mountains and hail storms at lower elevations. We bundled up and made our way to Anaheim Stadium.
Walking through the parking lot, we saw many people carrying Korean flags and wearing Korean team caps. And they were probably outnumbered inside the stadium by Mexican fans by three to one.
Some scenes from inside the stadium:
For some reason, the game started at a late time, 8 pm. We watched batting and fielding practice for both teams, and watched Korea take a 2-0 lead on a first inning home run. Mexico came back with a bases-empty home run in the third inning. We left after four innings, and found out later that the game ended with the same 2-1 score.
The opening flag ceremony and playing of the national anthems:
The crowd sitting around us was mostly pro-Mexico. There was a lot of chanting of "Meh-hee-coh, Meh-hee-coh" throughout the game. A guy a few rows below us was also chanting things like "Si, se puede!" and "Pancho Villa!"
The upper level of the stadium above us near the right field foul pole was also visibly pro-Mexico. When someone bravely showed up with a South Korean flag, there was a loud and prolonged booing from that area.
